No photo available
Honeycomb toby
Canthigaster janthinoptera
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Honeycomb toby
- Scientific
- Canthigaster janthinoptera
- Dhivehi
- Thijjehi thaakihaa koli
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 9 cm (total length) (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 7.5 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 30 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2011
Description
A small, brownish-orange sharpnose puffer covered in close-set pale blue-green spots, with blue-green lines radiating from the eye. It hides in holes in dead and living coral and feeds on sponges, worms and algae. Its skin toxin makes it distasteful to predators.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name thijjehi thaakihaa koli (MRS 1997).
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Canthigaster-janthinoptera.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Canthigaster_janthinoptera_Réunion.JPG
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Thijjehi thaakihaa koli' (Latin form).